Chins Versus Pulldowns

March, 6 2010

Busy building up the “Barn-Door Lats” that exemplify a bodybuilder physique? Get ready to rep plenty of Wide-Grip Pulldowns and Wide-Grip Chins. Both of these exercises put the focus on your lats, the area right underneath your arms. But before you get down to pulling some weight, let’s look at the differences between these two movements.

Wide-Grip Lat Pulldowns are performed on a seated machine. With your legs anchored, pull the bar down to your collar bone. That action’s contracting the muscles in your upper back. I’ve seen bodybuilders use too much weight on this exercise and end up tilting their upper body back to cheat the bar down to the finished position. When performed with proper form, Lat Pulldowns work great for building upper back width. This exercise is a very good alternative for those who aren’t yet strong enough to do Wide-Grip Chins.

Wide-Grip Chins are even more effective for developing wide lats. By arching your lower back and pulling your body all the way up to the chinning bar, it’s pretty much impossible to cheat on this exercise. Your lats will be forced to work hard during Chins, and will have no choice but to grow bigger and stronger. For best results, use both of these exercises to develop the ultimate Wide Lat look!

Natural Mr. Olympia
John Hansen